> >WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outraged by new deadly
> >shootings this week, President Clinton called Thursday
> >for a meeting with congressional leaders in an effort
> >to push through gun control legislation stalled in
> >Congress.
> >
> >Clinton said he would invite party leaders from both
> >the Senate and the House of Representatives to a
> >meeting at the White House next week to discuss gun
> >control laws to keep weapons away from criminals and
> >children.
> >
> >``I'm going to call the leaders of both parties in
> >both houses and ask them to come down here and break
> >the log jam,'' Clinton told NBC's ``Today'' show. A
> >bill providing protection for children against guns
> >has been stalled for eight months.
> >
> >Clinton's call for a meeting follows public outrage
> >after a 6-year-old boy shot and killed a girl of his
> >same age in their classroom in Michigan Tuesday.
> >Wednesday, a gunman killed two men and wounded three
> >others in a shooting rampage near Pittsburgh.
> >
> >``We need to get out of this terrible logjam. And I
> >hope that these tragedies will give a little impulse,
> >a profound sense of obligation, to do that,'' Clinton
> >said.
> >
> >The president, who blamed the powerful National Rifle
> >Association (NRA) for putting a ``stranglehold'' on
> >gun laws, said 13 children were killed every day in
> >America because of guns -- a rate nine times higher
> >than the 24 biggest countries combined.
> >
> >``Is there a silver bullet that will solve it (the
> >problem with guns) overnight? No. Can we save a lot of
> >lives, including a lot of children, 13 every day, 13
> >funerals a day? You bet we can and we ought to,'' he
> >said.
> >
> >Clinton said he had been ``heartbroken'' as a parent
> >and then angry that a 6-year-old boy had taken a gun
> >to his school. ``I thought, you know, how did this
> >child get the gun in the first place? What's a
> >6-year-old doing with a gun?,'' Clinton asked.
> >
> >A bill protecting children against guns has been
> >locked in committee in the Senate. The bill would
> >require child safety locks on guns, close a loophole
> >that allows people to buy guns at shows without having
> >background checks and take other steps to keep guns
> >out of the hands of children and criminals.
> >
> >Clinton said in this year's budget he had asked for
> >more funds to research so-called smart gun technology,
> >which would enable guns to be fired only by the adults
> >who owned them.
> >
> >Another element was that federal law should include
> >parental accountability so that if a child used a
> >parent's gun the adult would hold some responsibility.
> >This was not the case in many states, including
> >Michigan.
> >
> >Clinton estimated that there were 200 million to 250
> >million weapons in the country and suggested that
> >handgun owners should be licensed, just as drivers are
> >required to have a license. The NRA strongly opposes
> >this step.
> >
> >Clinton said he hoped tragedies such as this week's
> >shootings would encourage members of Congress to react
> >strongly against gun violence.
> >
> >But he said when 15 people were shot last April at
> >Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, he
> >thought congressional leaders would pass key
> >legislation.
> >
> >``I thought, surely we can close the gun show
> >loophole, have the child safety locks and maybe have
> >the parental responsibility provisions and ban
> >ammunition clips, and those bills have been just
> >lingering up there for eight months,'' Clinton said.
> >
> >The president dismissed arguments from the NRA that
> >legislation interfered with people's rights. ``They're
> >basically against anything that requires anybody to do
> >anything as a member of society that helps to make it
> >safer.
> >
> >``They're saying guns are special, guns are different
> >than cars, and the rights of individual citizens are
> >far, far more important than the safety of society as
> >a whole. That's their argument. And I just disagree
> >with them.''
> >
> >shootings this week, President Clinton called Thursday
> >for a meeting with congressional leaders in an effort
> >to push through gun control legislation stalled in
> >Congress.
> >
> >Clinton said he would invite party leaders from both
> >the Senate and the House of Representatives to a
> >meeting at the White House next week to discuss gun
> >control laws to keep weapons away from criminals and
> >children.
> >
> >``I'm going to call the leaders of both parties in
> >both houses and ask them to come down here and break
> >the log jam,'' Clinton told NBC's ``Today'' show. A
> >bill providing protection for children against guns
> >has been stalled for eight months.
> >
> >Clinton's call for a meeting follows public outrage
> >after a 6-year-old boy shot and killed a girl of his
> >same age in their classroom in Michigan Tuesday.
> >Wednesday, a gunman killed two men and wounded three
> >others in a shooting rampage near Pittsburgh.
> >
> >``We need to get out of this terrible logjam. And I
> >hope that these tragedies will give a little impulse,
> >a profound sense of obligation, to do that,'' Clinton
> >said.
> >
> >The president, who blamed the powerful National Rifle
> >Association (NRA) for putting a ``stranglehold'' on
> >gun laws, said 13 children were killed every day in
> >America because of guns -- a rate nine times higher
> >than the 24 biggest countries combined.
> >
> >``Is there a silver bullet that will solve it (the
> >problem with guns) overnight? No. Can we save a lot of
> >lives, including a lot of children, 13 every day, 13
> >funerals a day? You bet we can and we ought to,'' he
> >said.
> >
> >Clinton said he had been ``heartbroken'' as a parent
> >and then angry that a 6-year-old boy had taken a gun
> >to his school. ``I thought, you know, how did this
> >child get the gun in the first place? What's a
> >6-year-old doing with a gun?,'' Clinton asked.
> >
> >A bill protecting children against guns has been
> >locked in committee in the Senate. The bill would
> >require child safety locks on guns, close a loophole
> >that allows people to buy guns at shows without having
> >background checks and take other steps to keep guns
> >out of the hands of children and criminals.
> >
> >Clinton said in this year's budget he had asked for
> >more funds to research so-called smart gun technology,
> >which would enable guns to be fired only by the adults
> >who owned them.
> >
> >Another element was that federal law should include
> >parental accountability so that if a child used a
> >parent's gun the adult would hold some responsibility.
> >This was not the case in many states, including
> >Michigan.
> >
> >Clinton estimated that there were 200 million to 250
> >million weapons in the country and suggested that
> >handgun owners should be licensed, just as drivers are
> >required to have a license. The NRA strongly opposes
> >this step.
> >
> >Clinton said he hoped tragedies such as this week's
> >shootings would encourage members of Congress to react
> >strongly against gun violence.
> >
> >But he said when 15 people were shot last April at
> >Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, he
> >thought congressional leaders would pass key
> >legislation.
> >
> >``I thought, surely we can close the gun show
> >loophole, have the child safety locks and maybe have
> >the parental responsibility provisions and ban
> >ammunition clips, and those bills have been just
> >lingering up there for eight months,'' Clinton said.
> >
> >The president dismissed arguments from the NRA that
> >legislation interfered with people's rights. ``They're
> >basically against anything that requires anybody to do
> >anything as a member of society that helps to make it
> >safer.
> >
> >``They're saying guns are special, guns are different
> >than cars, and the rights of individual citizens are
> >far, far more important than the safety of society as
> >a whole. That's their argument. And I just disagree
> >with them.''
> >